Shit.
Shit shit.
I had three rules.
1. Don't piss off any vampires.
2. Don't try to stake any vampires.
3. Keep a low profile.
And tonight?
I had successfully broken all three.
The slap had felt satisfying when it landed. The look on his pale, too-perfect face had been worth every consequence I was currently sprinting from.
But that satisfaction vanished the moment I saw his eyes flash red. That glint, that hunger, that promise of slow vengeance.
I pushed my feet harder against the concrete, ignoring the fire searing up my calves.
The moonlight spilled across the rooftops and dark alleyways like milk, painting long shadows that moved as I did. My school blazer whipped behind me, the air biting cold through my clothes.
They were faster. They were stronger. They didn't get tired.
This was a game to them.
To me, it was a very real run for my life.
"Zara…"
The voice echoed behind me slowly. "You can run, but you can't hide."
A shiver scraped down my spine.
I turned a corner sharply, narrowly avoiding slamming into a trash can. I didn't stop. I couldn't stop.
I glanced at my wristwatch. It was 8:17 PM.
Shit.
Curfew had been at 8. Strictly enforced by House Noctis, the ruling vampire clan in this sector. Every human was expected to be indoors before then, "for your protection," they said.
But we all knew better. It was to keep us out of their way when they hunted.
And here I was. Running through their domain with blood pumping like a neon sign.
I hadn't meant to stay late. It was Mr. Halvix, the stupid, smug vampire teacher with an ego bigger than his coffin, who had kept me back.
"Detention," he'd said. For "disrespect." What he meant was: how dare a human like me talk back to him in front of the class.
He had kept me waiting in the dark classroom for over an hour, just… staring at me. Watching. I'd known something was wrong, even before he licked his lips.
He was setting me up. The moment he finally dismissed me with that slow, cruel smile, I bolted. And now? Now I was paying for it.
My lungs burned. I ducked into another alleyway, slipping between crates. I heard the flutter of movement behind me, too fast, too silent. He was toying with me.
A blur of motion slammed into my side.
Pain exploded in my skull as I hit the ground. The world spun. Concrete scraped my elbows. I blinked rapidly, vision swimming.
A silhouette stepped into view, and I didn't need to see his face to know who it was.
Miran.
The vampire from my class. The one I had slapped this morning after he tried to grab my hair and— 'playfully', he said— sink his fangs into my neck. The one I'd stabbed with a pencil when he tried again.
It was not my smartest move. But it was definitely the most satisfying.
"Well, well," he said, crouching over me. His eyes glowed like molten garnet. "Better luck next time, Zara."
"No!" I gasped, pushing back with my elbows.
He smiled, fangs glinting, and lunged at me.
CRACK.
Miran's body suddenly jerked midair, as if yanked by an invisible hand, and his head slammed against the alley wall with a sickening crunch. He crumpled. Motionless.
Silence followed, thick and unreal.
I didn't move. I couldn't.
Something… someone stood where Miran had been. Towering, still, cloaked in moonlight and the kind of dread that made my bones want to fold in on themselves.
A Noctis royal.
I didn't need to see his eyes to know. The pressure in the air changed, the sheer power of him made the oxygen hard to breathe.
I bowed my head instinctively and my breath seized in my chest.
Then he crouched.
Right. In front. Of me.
And I looked.
I couldn't help it. I looked.
And everything in me froze.
He was ethereal.
Hair like silver spun from moonlight fell in elegant waves around his face, partly obscuring sharp, aristocratic features.
His eyes—oh my—his eyes were a color I couldn't name, somewhere between crimson and dusk. And yet they held something ancient, something devastatingly empty.
My heart slammed against my ribs when I remembered. Humans weren't supposed to look into a Noctis royal's eyes. Or any vampire royal's eyes. Not unless you wanted to die.
I squeezed my eyes shut and waited for teeth.
Waited for pain.
But nothing came.
Instead, I heard a quiet sniff.
Then a hiss.
A sharp, feral noise that vibrated through the air and made my skin prickle.
I cracked one eye open.
The royal's nose was wrinkled, his gaze narrowed. And then, with a blur too fast to follow, he vanished, like smoke torn away by wind.
Gone.
The only sound was my own breathing, loud and uneven.
I looked toward the alley wall. Miran was still slumped against it, unmoving.
Shit.
Shit shit shit.
I staggered to my feet, my knees weak. Whatever had just happened, whatever freak royal had just spared me, it didn't matter right now.
I had to get home.
Now.
I tore down the alley, feet slapping the pavement, not daring to look back.